Week 5: In The Booth

Today we met again in the Rosina Theatre. After warming up our bodies and in particular our hands, we were ready to introduce our little puppet people to the group.

One of the stories from last week was revisited.

The sun rose in the sky, four children went swimming at the beach. Along came a shark. The children swam as fast as they could to get away. Along came a red plane and frightened away the shark. the children climbed aboard and were saved.

It was wonderful to see the students developing their skills at keeping the shark in the water, and the puppets learning how to swim. Next weekl we will be developing our characters and finding new locations for our stories to come alive in.

Week 4: Gesture In The Rosina Hall

This week our group met in the Rosina Hall. So far we have touched on different ways of making puppets, experimented with using them to tell a story and how we might give them a voice. Today the group began to grapple with communicating through gestures. Leonie explained how there is a difference between gestures and actions (such as running, hopping etc.). She told us that gestures communicate a message or make something happen. We tried out some gestures such as waving, pointing and beckoning. Then we tried to express these gestures through the puppets.

Next we broke into groups and tried to think of a story that we could tell with the puppets. first we drew our story on large bits of paper and then improvised props.

At the end of the session one group got to perform their story about going to a party. They did a great job. Next week, the other groups will have their turn. I look forward to hearing about Aunt Sue who lives in a volcano!

We have also turned all (well, most) of the participants into mini puppets. Curious? Have a look at them in the Wattle room at the ELC. We will bring them to the next session.

Victoria

Week 3: Making Our Very Own Puppet

Today we jumped straight into making our own rod puppets. First we took a cardboard roll and then we filled a stocking up with fluffy brains. A costume for our puppets was the next thing, and then a nose and an arm was attached. Sticky glue attached eyes and hair and voila, we have our very own puppet.

Leonie did quick repairs on the falling off bits, and we gathered in a circle to introduce our new puppet friends to the class.

The children from ELC sang Cat Stevens song Moonshadow with their puppets all singing in a variety of voices.

James' puppet could sing very low, while some of the girls could sing very high.

Next week we will continue to find a voice for our puppets and explore what its like to be on the stage.....

Week 3: Storytelling With Puppets

Today we welcomed some new children from the ELC group. We showed the slideshow again to see what kinds of materials puppets can be made from. Victoria told the story of The billy goats gruff while Leonie manipulated her goat puppet and Renato played some dramatic music on the keyboard. We needed more than one goat to tell the story! So everybody set to work on making more characters to help tell the story and other stories.

This week we worked small scale in comparison to our large 2 dimensional human size puppets of last week. They will be gradually brought to life over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile back at the ELC the children are cutting out small photos of all the participants in puppet poses which will be animated in time. Next week we will investigate puppets in 3D...

Today's session, although a little shorter than usual, showed how well the two groups are engaging with the puppet making and each other. Here are a few photos: